Stephanie Rodas has been battling anorexia for more than half the time she's been alive. She was criticised in her early teen years for being overweight, so she overcompensated and started starving herself thin.
The lowest weight she ever got down to was a shocking 24 kilos (55lbs). She has been sent to several clinics and hospitals however, despite their treatment, the 28-year-old eventually relapses and her condition takes hold again.
But she's while the health effects of the condition might be obvious in some areas, Stephanie has turned to more experts to see just how damaging her anorexia has been on her body. She's appeared on The Doctors, where she's undergone heart and blood tests as well as an ultrasound to get the best insight into her health.
Credit: The Doctors/CBS
In a clip obtained by the Daily Mail, the woman tearfully recounts her eating habits: "I can have as little as 100 calories a day... I will spend 10 hours exercising. When I was 13 I felt very hideous. I was overweight, and kids would say things like 'fatso' and everyone in the lunch room would throw food at me."
Stephanie added while the clinics were helpful, she managed to learn new anorexic habits from the other girls receiving treatment. Her family were shocked when Stephanie's sister found her unconscious on the floor after taking pain medication and was left unresponsive for several days.
The 28-year-old reckons she still struggles with her illness because she hasn't got closure from the days where she was bullied. She hauntingly tells the hosts that she stayed so sickly thin because 'it reflected more how dead I already felt inside'.
Credit: The Doctors/CBS/Daily Mail
Being criticised for body shape or weight is one of the prime factors which can spark anorexia in a person, according to NHS Choices. Other contributors can be stressful situations, difficult relationships with family members or friends, certain underlying characteristics like an obsessive personality, and having a family history of eating disorders, depression or substance misuse.
According to ANAD, at least 30 million Americans live with one type of eating disorder, which includes bulimia, anorexia and binge eating. Shockingly, every 62 minutes, someone dies in the US as a result of their illness. The association adds that between 50-80 percent of anorexia and bulimia is genetic.
The Doctors episode will air on Monday and will reveal the full extent of Stephanie's illness.
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Sources: Daily Mail, NHS Choices, ANAD
Topics: Mental Health, Weight, Feels, Community, Depression